# Nevada HOA Xeriscaping Rights: Drought-Tolerant Landscaping (2026) > Nevada Revised Statutes 116.330 says an HOA and its governing documents cannot prohibit an owner from installing or maintaining drought-tolerant landscaping on the part of the property the owner controls, like a front or back yard. Drought-tolerant landscaping is defined to conserve water and includes mulches such as decorative rock and artificial turf. The association also cannot require an owner to keep live irrigated turf if doing so would violate the local watering schedule or water-use rules. The board keeps a review role: before installing, the owner submits a plan for architectural review under the documents' procedures, and the landscaping has to be designed, as far as practicable, to fit the look of the community. For a buyer, a CC&R that demands a live grass lawn is likely unenforceable in Nevada. _Source: https://hoanotes.com/hoa/nevada/xeriscaping/ | Last reviewed 2026-06-03_ ## What the law protects Nevada Revised Statutes 116.330 protects an owner's right to install or maintain drought-tolerant landscaping on the portion of the community the owner occupies exclusively, such as the front or back yard. The statute defines drought-tolerant landscaping to conserve water and to include mulches like decorative rock and artificial turf, so those are squarely covered. An HOA also cannot require an owner to maintain live irrigated turf where that would conflict with the applicable watering schedule or water-use restrictions. The board is not shut out of the process. Before installing, the owner submits a detailed description or plan for architectural review under whatever procedures the governing documents set, and the landscaping has to be selected or designed, to the maximum extent practicable, to be compatible with the style of the community. So the board can apply reasonable appearance standards, but it cannot use them to require live grass or block a water-wise yard. ## Why a buyer should care Nevada's water rules and desert climate make a low-water yard practical, and 116.330 protects it, including rock and artificial turf. The question in the packet is the gap between an old document and current law. A CC&R that still requires a green grass lawn is unenforceable on that point, but the board's appearance standards and the architectural review step still shape what your yard can look like. ## What to check in the disclosure packet Read these together before you make an offer: - The CC&Rs and rules for a live-lawn requirement or a ban on rock or artificial turf, which is likely unenforceable. - The architectural review procedures for a landscaping plan and the appearance standards the board applies. - Recent board minutes for landscaping disputes, fines, or denied plans. - Whether the community's standards line up with the local watering schedule. ## Why this matters to your offer A board that fines water-wise yards in a state that protects them is a governance signal, and a document that still requires live grass is a sign it has not kept up with Nevada law. An HOA Notes brief reads the CC&Rs, the architectural standards, and the minutes together, flags the landscaping rules that conflict with the statute, and cites the page behind every finding. ## What the statute says **Nevada Revised Statutes section 116.330** (Drought-tolerant landscaping rights). An association cannot prohibit an owner from implementing water-efficient or drought-tolerant landscaping (xeriscaping) or from replacing existing live landscaping with drought-tolerant plants, rock, mulch, or similar materials on owner-controlled property; given Nevada's desert environment and acute water scarcity, this right is broadly construed and requirements to maintain live turf grass are unenforceable. The association may impose design standards requiring that drought-tolerant landscaping be aesthetically maintained -- for example, specifying color tones, plant species, or mulch type -- but may not require maintenance of live grass or prohibit water-efficient alternatives. ## Nevada HOA xeriscaping rules: common questions ### Can a Nevada HOA require me to keep a grass lawn? No. Revised Statutes 116.330 protects drought-tolerant landscaping, and an HOA cannot require live irrigated turf where that would violate the watering schedule or water-use rules. ### Does Nevada law protect rock and artificial turf? Yes. The statute defines drought-tolerant landscaping to include mulches such as decorative rock and artificial turf. ### Can the HOA still review my landscaping plan? Yes. Before installing, you submit a plan for architectural review, and the design has to be compatible, as far as practicable, with the community's style. The board cannot use that to require live grass. ### The CC&Rs require a live lawn. Does that bind me? That requirement is likely unenforceable under 116.330. Confirm the current rules and the review procedures, but a live-grass mandate is a sign the document is out of date. ## Sources (verified 2026-06-03) 1. Nevada Revised Statutes section 116.330 (right to install drought tolerant landscaping), Justia. Verified 2026-06-03. https://law.justia.com/codes/nevada/chapter-116/statute-116-330/ 2. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 116 (Common-Interest Ownership Act), Nevada Legislature. Verified 2026-06-03. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-116.html 3. Nevada Revised Statutes Title 10 section 116.330, FindLaw. Verified 2026-06-03. https://codes.findlaw.com/nv/title-10-property-rights-and-transactions/nv-rev-st-116-330/ HOA Notes is not a law firm and this is not legal advice.